17-year-old pleads guilty to driving on wrong side of road
A 17-YEAR-old who was friends with those who died in the M9 crash has pleaded guilty to driving on the wrong side of the M50 after a chase was initiated from Jobstown.
The teenager pleaded guilty at the Dublin Children’s Court to charges of endangerment of life and motor theft related to a joyriding incident on May 18 when he had been detected at Fortunestown Way by Gardaí and chased through Tallaght until making his way onto the M50 and driving the wrong direction.
Defence counsel Noah Rossiter stated that the deaths of the five minors after a collision the wrong side of the M9 in Kildare in August has led to a change from the teen.
Judge Paul Kelly was told that the teenager realised that he would end up “behind bars or in a grave” if he did not make a change.
In May, the teenager was driving in a stolen Toyota Aqua, and another teen was in the car with him as they were chased by gardaí after being detected at 9:43 pm.
The car entered the M50 at J10 Ballymount at 9:54 pm and travelled south in the northbound lane towards J12 Firhouse and J13 Dundrum, then turned around in between these exits and found its way up the exit ramp at J12 in the correct direction, before returning to the M50 again.
The 17-year-old drove on back roads in Tallaght with stingers unsuccessfully attempting to end the pursuit and returned to the motorway at 10:07 pm, travelling once more in the wrong direction.
The Toyota Aqua was driven the wrong way down the slip road at J12 Firhouse and continued south in the northbound lane, with heavy traffic on the motorway at the time, the court heard, but damaged tyres brought the pursuit to an end.
CCTV footage showed the car driven on the hard shoulder except when he passed other slip roads on the motorway.
The second youth in the car on the night evaded prosecution due to inclusion in the Garda Youth Diversion Programme.
The State argued that the case should be sent to the Circuit Court but Judge Paul Kelly accepted jurisdiction at the Children’s Court after submissions from the defence counsel.
The 17-year-old is yet to enter pleas to 10 connected dangerous driving charges for incidents related to the event. The case resumes in October.
